


Down But Not Defeated

by Just_Another_Day



Category: Captive Prince - C. S. Pacat
Genre: Caretaking, Concussions, Fluff, Injury, Injury Recovery, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-27
Updated: 2019-06-27
Packaged: 2020-05-20 18:29:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,956
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19382332
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Just_Another_Day/pseuds/Just_Another_Day
Summary: When Laurent is thrown from his horse, he's determined to get back in the saddle. Though maybe not straight away (for which Damen is thankful).





	Down But Not Defeated

**Author's Note:**

> Written for a tumblr prompt and for the Fluff Bingo 'Fireman Carry' square.
> 
> Contains very vague references to canonical past CSA.

Soldiers and courtiers alike parted like a startled flock of birds as one King half-trotted down the hall with the other King slung over his shoulder as a miller would carry a sack of grain.

"Put me down. This is undigin— indigni— in…" Damen heard a frustrated sound from over his shoulder. "I don't know what I'm saying."

"Your ankle couldn't bear your weight a few minutes ago," Damen reminded Laurent.

"'S not that bad," Laurent argued. Damen didn't miss the slurring, or how tired Laurent sounded. "My head hurts more than my leg anyway."

As if that did anything to quell Damen's worries. 

Damen seriously doubted that the injury to Laurent's leg was as minor as Laurent would have him believe, considering how pale Laurent had turned as soon as he'd tried to walk on it, and the way he'd immediately folded right back to the ground like a marionette with cut strings. But even if it were actually true, there still wouldn't have been the slightest chance of Damen letting Laurent walk under his own steam just then. Not when he was too hazy from the knock he'd taken to the head to express himself with even a fraction of his usual sharp-mindedness. And not when he'd complained of dizziness even before he'd tried to clamber to his feet. But nor was Damen willing to let on how worried he was by that. So, cheerfully, Damen said, "I'll be glad to let you down. Once we get to Paschal, that is."

Laurent's failure to argue any further, and the fact that he wasn't actually struggling against Damen's hold the way he would if he _really_ thought he should be set back on his feet, were telling.

Thankfully, finding Paschal only took about another minute or so, for all that the time seemed to stretch longer as far as Damen was concerned. 

The no-nonsense way Paschal looked Laurent over might have helped calm Damen under other circumstances. But instead, Paschal's deliberative silence as he moved on from probing at Laurent's wound and testing his faculties in favour of examining the rest of Laurent's body only ratcheted up Damen's tension. Because _Laurent_ was hurt, and Damen desperately needed to know how badly. The fall had seemed bone-shudderingly hard. And Laurent's blood, still flowing even now, was now streaked down the back of Damen's chiton. Damen knew that even mild head wounds often bled liberally, but at the same time he'd also seen men who'd fallen badly from their saddles _die_. That didn't bear thinking about, but Damen couldn't really help himself.

"It could have been worse," Paschal eventually pronounced. That didn't really tell Damen much of use. _Obviously_ it could have been worse. (Don't dwell on that, he chided himself.) "You'll have to be watched closely for the first day or two to be sure that the symptoms of your head don't worsen, but it's a good sign that you remember what happened and that a little dizziness and tiredness seems to be the worst of it for now. Though I wouldn't expect that headache to disappear any time soon. And you're also going to experience some fairly significant bruising all over your body to match the pain in your head, I'll bet. Finally, the ankle will take weeks to heal, but I've seen worse breaks end up more or less as good as new, so I expect a full recovery there. Provided, of course, that you actually _rest_ for the full duration rather than prematurely running off on one of your little 'adventures'." 

Only Paschal could have got away with speaking to Laurent in such a rebuking tone without earning one of Laurent's scathing glares. Though in this case, Damen supposed that it was equally likely that Laurent just didn't want to open his eyes, considering how he'd been squinting against the brightness earlier.

Paschal insisted on keeping Laurent in the infirmary until further notice. Damen approved. Laurent didn't, but he was outnumbered, and bruises or no bruises, Damen had threatened to lie on top of him if he tried to get out of the infirmary bed. Better that than the alternative. 

So Damen had a couple of servants set up a second cot alongside Laurent's for Damen's use. He wasn't going anywhere until Laurent was in a fit state to do so as well. Damen sat on the edge of the mattress, settling in for a potentially long night.

Still without even cracking his eyes open, Laurent said, "When Paschal said I needed to be closely watched, I think he meant by _him_ , not you."

"An extra pair of eyes can't hurt."

"Mmph. Go shower and sleep. No one wants to see their King covered in blood."

That was true. Damen especially had no desire to see that. Even now that Laurent's head was bandaged up, the recollection of the blood coating his face, a stark contrast against his blanched skin, pressed at Damen. He wondered if he would dream of it. Even more reason to stay up all night watching over Laurent.

"I seem to recall you remaining by my side the last time I was under Paschal's care despite being covered in a great deal more of _my_ blood," Damen countered. Not that Laurent would probably be swayed just by being called out on his hypocrisy.

"Hmm?" 

"When I was stabbed," Damen reminded him. It was strange to see the evidence that Laurent's mind wasn't functioning properly. Almost like those rare occasions when Laurent allowed himself to drink, only far less amusing. Unnatural, and unwelcome.

"Oh. Yes. But you were dying at the time."

Damen still was having some difficulty convincing himself that the same wasn't true of Laurent now. It had been a close call. Too close. It was lucky Laurent was a good enough rider to at least somewhat direct his own fall, and doubly lucky that the panicked horse hadn't trampled him once he was on the ground. 

No, he definitely wasn't leaving any time soon. Not until he was absolutely _certain_ that Laurent was alright. And maybe not even then. 

The servants brought the evening meal to them. Damen insisted on making sure Laurent got his fill before he bothered touching his own plate.

"It's my ankle that's hurt, not my wrists," Laurent pointed out when Damen guided the spoon towards Laurent's mouth. Laurent still sipped at the soup when it was brought to his lips, though. And he impatiently prompted, "Well?" when Damen took too long to refill the spoon for him. 

The memory of a dozen 'attend me's coalesced in Damen's mind. This was different to back then, though. It was entirely Damen's choice. In fact, he insisted.

And Damen thought that Laurent might be secretly pleased by the pampering, however unnecessary he insisted it was. The way he allowed Damen to clean his skin with a wet cloth later in the evening after offering up only minimal protest seemed to confirm as much. Damen was only too happy to give him what he wanted, of course. If Damen had his way, Laurent wouldn't have to raise a finger until Paschal declared that he was fully recovered.

Damen slept only sparingly that night, preferring to keep an eye on Laurent instead. Maybe it was only due to the short duration of what was basically a nap, but either way Damen was glad that the nightmare that he'd half-expected to endure didn't come. 

The following day, Laurent seemed a little more like himself. It was heartening to see that his eyes were focused. Damen thought he might even have a little colour in his cheeks, even though he didn't doubt that Laurent was still feeling the pain of the broken bone keenly.

Apparently Laurent himself thought he was recovered enough to call the stable master into the infirmary despite Paschal voicing concerns about inviting any additional stress. 

"If you won't let me go to him," Laurent had said, as if Paschal were the one being unreasonable, "then obviously I have no other choice but to bring him to me."

Damen would have backed Paschal up, but he saw the set of Laurent's jaw. It proclaimed that Laurent was serious about this. And Laurent was too stubborn to change his mind about anything he was truly set on, so all arguing would probably do would be to cause Laurent the exact stress he was supposed to be avoiding.

Once he was called inside, the stable master bowed so deeply that Damen half expecting him to fully prostrate himself.

"My sincerest apologies, Your Majesty. We should never have allowed you to take that animal out. We will, of course, have the animal put down."

Damen reacted to that almost as vehemently as Laurent did, knowing exactly how Laurent would feel about that prospect.

"Anyone who touches that horse in a harmful way will suffer that same treatment tenfold," Laurent warned.

"But Your Majesty, it's obviously dangerous. It's too wild."

"She's easily spooked. It's hardly the same thing. And I chose to ride her, even knowing that she's skittish. I took that risk. So if I got hurt by doing so, that's my failing, not hers. She hardly deserves to die for that."

"My King, you are known to be the best rider in the allied kingdoms. If you can't control the horse, then no one can. So perhaps it would be better all around –"

"I'm sure I'm flattered," said Laurent, who didn't sound flattered in the least. "But I think I've already made my position clear."

Frowning, the stable master bowed in acquiescence.

"Maybe it would be better if you just don't try to ride her again," Damen said softly once the stable master left, confused but compliant. "You've already saved her, and punished her former owner for mistreating her. You've offered her a place in the royal stables. That's enough, isn't it?"

"Is it?" Laurent asked. "Is she really saved if she rears at every cracking branch like it's the crack of that whip coming down on her? Obviously the past is still haunting her." 

Damen wondered if they were still talking entirely about the horse. It wasn't as if he hadn't noticed the parallels when Laurent had first insisted on taking the abused animal in.

"Besides, if she can't ride, then she'll end up always stuck in the stables, or in a small fenced area at best. Horses do better when they're allowed to run. So I'll ride her. I won't give up on her."

"When a snake bites you, do you immediately extend your hand again hoping for a different outcome?" Damen asked.

"You did to me," remarked Laurent.

"You aren't a snake." 

"Some people would say otherwise," said Laurent.

The Damen of a few years ago certainly would have, admittedly.

"Besides, I'm not talking about saddling her up again tomorrow. I made a mistake, obviously. I thought she was doing so well, but it seems I pressed her too fast. She obviously needs to be worked up to it better. I'll make sure she's ready next time. That she knows she's safe."

"You don't want to leave her to her own devices while she still might need you," Damen concluded.

"Exactly."

Put that way, Damen could certainly empathise.

He'd stay by Laurent's side in the infirmary and once Paschal allowed Damen to carry him back to their rooms, doing whatever he could for him, until Laurent was entirely well again. And then he'd be there to support him while Laurent did what he could for this damaged horse he'd latched onto as well. 

It was the least Damen could do, really. And he wanted to as well. He _always_ wanted to be by Laurent's side.


End file.
